The Bible is a dangerous book.

It was meant to be dangerous, a sword that pierces bone and marrow.

Yet many people think the Bible is boring.

lol. 🧵 What is the Bible? And what is the gospel?

Let’s push aside the normal platitudes and focus on the epic story being told.

The death of Jesus is the surprising climax of an exciting epic full of blood, battle, and chaos, the rise and fall of kings, dynasties, and empires,

The 9 biggest mistakes homeschoolers make.

I'm a big proponent of homeschooling, but it comes with its own pitfalls.

1. Your standards are too high

Don’t try to get your 4-year-old to sit still for 3 hours per day doing school work.

They'll learn to hate school. 2. Your standards are too low.

It's easy to let things slide. Periodic tests like those given in public schools aren't great assessments, but they at least provide some accountability for progress.

Some families need more accountability than others.

Get honest feedback.

Reading to your kids every night has a better chance of changing the world than anything else you do.

But only if you read great stuff that feeds their imagination.

Don't waste this precious time with Diary of a Wimpy Kid.

Here 37 are recommendations that belong on your shelf: I'll avoid obvious selections, like The Hobbit, Lord of the Rings, and The Chronicles of Narnia.

Those should already be in your back pocket.

1. Wolf Hollow by Lauren Wolk
2. Have Spacesuit - Will Travel by Robert Heinlein
3. Night Journeys by Avi
4. Boys of Blur by N.D. Wilson

7 Things men do in their 20s that can screw up the rest of their life.

1. Waste their strength on worthless pursuits

Men will never have more energy and strength than in their 20s.

They could use that energy to build something that will last for the rest of their lives. Instead, many men waste their strength on video games, binge-watching entertainment, and nights at the bar or club.

"The glory of young men is their strength, but the splendor of old men is their gray hair."

- Proverbs 20:29

A man won't have the same energy in his 30s.

24 lessons every father must teach his daughter.

1. Your value is not based on your outward appearance.

You were created in the image of God and your soul was purchased at a high price. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. 2. Outward beauty is still important.

Beauty flows outward from the heart. Those who are beautiful inside will show signs of that beauty on the outside. They can't help it.

Cropped and discolored hair, marred skin, ugly piercings...these are all evidence of a slow rot.

The 8 rules of integrity.

Teach your children these rules, but more importantly, live by them yourself. The most important:

1. Let your "yes" be "yes," and your "no" be "no."

Say what you mean and mean what you say. Keep your promises, even if it hurts. 2. Use "I" statements when describing a problem.

Avoid "you" statements. This implies shifting the blame.

"This is what I believe" instead of "You're insensitive."

"This is what I will do" instead of "You never do anything!"

18 truths about homeschooling.

1. It shouldn't take 6+ hours a day of your time. 2-3 hours max.

2. You don't have to know everything yourself to teach your kids. Curriculums these days lay out everything you need. You certainly don't need a PhD to teach 3rd-grade math. 3. "Socialization" is a poor excuse not to homeschool. There are co-ops, classes, churches, parks, and, most of all, siblings. "Socialization" at public school is 20-30 kids of the same age locked in a room for most of the day. That's not very social, either.

33 lessons every father must teach his son:

1. Do not gloat in victory.

Everyone already knows you have won. Gloating turns defeated opponents into lifelong enemies. Being gracious in victory creates lifelong friends.

Point out something they did well, and ask how they did it. 2. Do not whine in defeat.

You will gradually get fewer and fewer invites, and you will never get better at the thing you just lost at.

Every loss is a moment to learn, but if you are a sore loser, no one will want to teach you.

62 common sense truths to teach your kids before they move out of the house.

Some might seem obvious, but wisdom can be forgotten within a generation. 1. Don't put metal in the microwave.
2. Disconnect your hoses from the outdoor spigots before the temperature drops below freezing.
3. Change the filter for your furnace regularly and set a reminder in whatever calendar you use.
4. Don't clean your cast iron bakeware with soap.

A woman trying to be more like a man is only a danger to herself and those she loves.

But there is a type of feminine strength that is fearsome to behold.

Here are 11 ways to raise dangerous daughters.🧵 1. Tell your daughters they are beautiful.

If your daughters don’t think they are beautiful, it’s your fault. They should hear this truth from their father often.

Too many girls are crippled by insecurity, and an insecure girl will not grow up to be a dangerous woman.

Most modern entertainment treats homosexuality as a sanctifying trait, sometimes in absurd ways.

It is, literally, fake and gay.

Let's take Netflix's Castlevania series as an example. In Castlevania's universe, vampires are evil and need to be killed. So far, so good.

Unless a vampire is also gay.

If a vampire is gay, he's not as bad and shouldn't be killed. You're supposed to root for him. The show makes this obvious.

Most people love their kids and don't speak with outright hostility toward them.

But many things we say act like a slow poison. The harm is not obvious until years later.

Here are 9 of some of the most poisonous things you can say to your kids. 1. “I can’t believe you would do that in front of all these people!”

What does the number of people have to do with right or wrong?

This trains your kids to look to the opinions of the crowd to validate their actions.

Boys are knights in training.

A boy who is not becoming more dangerous will not be able to protect anything. He will not be able to ascend to any sort of manhood.

Here are 11 ways to raise dangerous sons. 🧵 1. Don’t tell your sons to be careful. Tell them to pay attention.

Expect your boys to be wild and get hurt. This is the glory of being a young boy. Skinned knees are an honor. Broken bones are a garland.

You should want to temper this wildness with wisdom.

These are the TV shows I've enjoyed watching with my children.

They have not only provided great entertainment but have also helped start great conversations and inside jokes that we still laugh about.

Here are 7, though you've probably never heard of the first one.

🧵 1. Future Boy Conan

This was Hayao Myazaki's directorial debut and you can see the seeds of his future style.

Post-apocalyptic adventure story. It understands how boys become friends. It has some interesting gender dynamics. The female protagonist makes the hero sandwiches.

In The Two Towers, the 2nd book of Lord of the Rings, Eomer says to Aragorn:

"Yet you speak the truth, that is plain: the Men of the Mark do not lie, and therefore they are not easily deceived."

This seems like an odd saying, but Tolkien is getting at a deep truth. Aragorn has already called the men of Rohan "wise but unlearned, writing no books but singing many songs."

They are not naive. They love truth. And it is a love of truth that guards against deception.

Those who lie often will fall into their own pit of lies.

I've worked from home for almost 10 years, with kids running between my feet and hiding under my desk the entire time.

Here are my 3 biggest tips for doing it successfully.

/ THREAD 1. Get out of the house.

Take daily walks.

Attend lunchtime martial arts classes.

Grab lunch with a friend a few times a month.

Volunteer to run some errands, like grocery shopping. Take one of the kids with you.

Get out of the house. Do not melt into your chair.

Reading to your kids every night has a better chance of changing the world than anything else you do.

But only if you read great stuff that feeds their imagination.

Don't waste this precious time with Diary of a Wimpy Kid.

Here are 22 recommendations that belong on your shelf: I'm not going to list obvious selections, like The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings and The Chronicles of Narnia. Those should already be in your back pocket.

1. Wolf Hollow by Lauren Wolk
2. The Wednesday Wars by Gary Schmidt
3. Charlotte's Web by E.B. White

Most people miss the main theme of The Incredibles, partly because the movie does so many other things well.

It's a 2004 superhero film by Pixar that has already aged better than 2012's The Avengers.

And its main theme is more relevant today.

What is that theme? The Incredibles tells us the theme at the very start, with heroes talking about their secret identities.

Which identity is the real identity, and how is it determined?

This is what the movie will debate and answer.

If I could tell new fathers one thing, this would be it:

Whenever your kids ask you to do something, say YES. "Yes" should be your default answer to everything.

They want you to play a game? Yes.

They want you to go outside? Yes.

They want to jump on your back and have you run up and down the hall? Yes.

They want you to catch them as they jump off the couch? Yes.

9 ways to make your wife despise you.

1. Never make any decisions.

"I don't know. What do you want to do?"

Be decisive. Making the wrong decision is better than making no decision.

At least if you make the wrong one, you can correct it and try again. If you don't have an opinion on something, it's NOT ok to say "I don't care."

However, you CAN say "I delegated this task to you and I trust your decision. I need to focus on other things."

And then make sure you focus on those other things.

Every father is always asking himself, "Am I doing enough?"

The answer: No, you are not.

/ THREAD Fathers feel guilty about their efforts because they ARE guilty.

We fail in countless ways, large and small, over and over.

The ready excuse is, "Well, I did the best I could."

No, you did not. You got impatient. You raised your voice. You ignored obvious problems. For years.